Behind a Blade of Grass (Sam)

[Ariel]

Spring 3, 511 AV Ariel was sitting beneath the rising sun, in-between several blades of over-sized green grass. She was sitting in the lotus position, with her hands resting on her knees, palms face up towards the light blue sky. Her eyes were closed, and her ornamental clay wings were fluttering open and then closed rather slowly. Rafael was asleep, curled around the length of the pycon's back, helping to keep her warm, and sheltering her from the elements. She had decided, for once, to let her lazy companion rest, while she meditated. Ariel began by breathing in through her nose, and holding in her breath for about ten seconds, allowing it to fill every inch of her small clay body, before letting it out of her mouth with a low sigh. She continued to breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth, counting each breath she let out. In, out. In, "one," she whispered, as she drew another breath out. Sigh. "Two," and she breathed in, "and that's three." Ariel continued her count until she had reached the number fifty, at which point, she stopped and simply sat in silence. She was concentrating, allowing herself to simply feel the warmth of Rafael's body behind her, the tickling sensation that his soft fur sent up her spine each time he shifted ever so slightly in his sleep. She could hear the soft sighs the kitten made each time he exhaled, and his hot breath tickling her knees. From time to time, when the wind blew, she could hear the rustling of the grass, and feel the sun beating down on her body, and everything else that surrounded her. Ariel was truly enjoying the sounds, and various sensations that surrounded her. But it was time for her to get going with her day; to wake her body back up. She began by balling her hands into fists, and clenching them tightly shut. She held her hands like this for a moment, her tiny clay nails digging into her palms, before opening them. She balled her hands into fists, and then opened her hands up again, as she wiggled her arms slightly, like the waves of the sea. She pulled her legs out from under her body, and began to wiggle her toes. Ariel was beginning to feel a strong tingling sensation course through her body; energy. She was waking up again. Ariel sat for another moment, her arms and her toes had stopped wiggling, and now, she was simply left balling her hands into fists, and then opening them. A few seconds later, the pycon had opened her eyes. She peered around the area, but all she saw were rows upon rows of oversized blades of bright green grass, and her kitten sitting behind her. Slowly, Ariel got to her feet, and turned around. She gave Rafael a soft kick with her right foot. It landed in the center of the kitten's belly. "Come on Rafael, it is time for you to get up," Ariel instructed. "You have slept long enough mister, especially now that you were given extra time." There was a pause, "but now we really must be going before we waste the entire day." The kitten's whiskers twitched, as did his ears, he had definitely heard his mistress, but he was still reluctant to awaken. "Come on, don't you be lazy!" Ariel called. Finally, the kitten opened his eyes. They were blinking rapidly, taking in the new day. Rafael yawned. "Well at least you're awake now," Ariel muttered, as she placed her hands on her hips. She really should have tamed a dog, they have far more energy than kittens. OOCTime wise, it is relatively early in the morning, say eight or nine.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sama'el didn't hate Pycons, but he had never had a positive experience with one. In fact, the only direct experience he had with the race involved a band of them raiding his camp while hunting in the Sea of Grass with several other Drykas men and women, stealing away with their weaponry and other goods, leading to injuries to the persons of the more hotheaded members of their party, until a wiser head among the little creatures prevailed and set things aright. So no, he didn't hate them, but the grin on his face dimmed when he noted that the adorable kitten wasn't alone. She might have merely been some figurine that the kitten had played with and then napped with, but she began to move eventually, bringing Sama'el's fears into fruition. Only recently initiated into the Sapphire Clan mysteries, he understood the rudiments of the Great Web. Soon Eldon promised to initiate him into the mastery over the elements. He took these things quite seriously, but nothing he understood could explain the existence of Pycons. Oh, Conrad could melt his flesh at will, but clay was not flesh, and clay was not animate. "Strange," he said aloud, unaware that he was thinking such that people might hear him.

[Ariel]

Rafael yawned again. His lips parting enough for each of his long, white teeth to become exposed. His long pink tongue crinkled and sank back into his mouth, while his eyes scrunched shut and his silver whiskers twitched. "Oh come on now, you've had enough rest you lazy thing," Ariel scolded, as several tiny droplets of spit shot out of the kitten's mouth, and towards her. Ariel quickly side-stepped to the right and scowled at the beast. "Do you want your mistress to melt?" she asked, as she walked over to the kitten's middle. A moment later, Ariel had placed her left foot in Rafael's stirrup, and hopped up a little. She swung her right leg over the kitten's body, and soon enough, had laced her foot through the remaining stirrup. The pycon was sitting up straight in Rafael's saddle as she took the leather reins in her tiny clay hands. As her fingers pressed into the soft leather, the pycon smiled, and gave them a little flick. The kitten had just finished yawning, and was now reluctantly getting to its feet. The kitten's back had arched, and Ariel found herself inching a little higher. "Well at least now we can almost see the top of the grass," she muttered, as the kitten's claws poked out of its paws, and into the dirt, and then retracted. After a moment, it lurched forward, just as a male voice reached Ariel's ears. The pycon looked over her shoulder, and noticed another giant. "Well hello Mr. Drykas, and who might you be?" Ariel asked, as she tugged on the right side of the reins, and forced Rafael around so that she could face him. Deciding that it was best she be polite, considering Ariel was the one visiting the Drykas lands, she decided to introduce herself, "the name is Ariel, and the kitten is Rafael, by the way." There was a slight pause, "just in case you were wondering." Ariel was staring up at the man with her unblinking eyes. She was breathing evenly in through the nose, and out through the mouth, when Sama'el's aura came into view. It was a dark blue mist, similar to the color of the night sky, that wound its way around the man's body rather tightly. If Ariel looked closely enough, she could see tiny white horses running through the length of the misty cord that bound him. Well the horses don't tell us anything we didn't already know. He is a Drykas... an uneasy one. There was a slight pause as the pycon gulped. Hopefully he isn't a mean, pycon hating Drykas like that Kayiri, who thought that he should crush us for something someone else had done. As soon as a dull throbbing began to settle into the edges of the pycon's wings, and the space behind her ears, Ariel forced herself to close her normally unblinking eyes. As soon as she had, Sama'el's aura faded away. When she opened her eyes again, Ariel realized it was gone. She gulped again. She found herself being tempted to ask about Kayiri, about the time the pycons supposedly stole from the drykas. But she knew that such a thing would not make her look good, so she kept her mouth shut, and waited for Sama'el to speak again.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Ho, little one," he greeted, friendly enough if not overtly welcoming. He did smile, though, and it was sincere. Surely she was not one of the thieving Pycon from the Fall. And even if she was, that was long past them now. This was a new season, a new year, and time for turning over new leaves. He had never really gotten to speak to one personally, only suffered the offense of larceny and witnessing the ensuing peace, but that was brokered by others. "Welcome to Endrykas, Ariel and Rafael. I am Sama'el of the Sapphire Clan, and a man of the Watch." He gave them a Drykas salute. It seemed to him that for a moment she was looking at him strangely, but she was a Pycon and therefore strange, so every look she gave him would be new and unusual. "Is everything all right?"

[Ariel]

Ariel giggled a little as she watched Sama'el salute her. He was being polite, almost too polite, and she found it odd given how some of the other drykas had acted towards her. "Of course everything is alright, why wouldn't it be? It is a lovely day out, the sun is shining, the grass is swaying artfully in the breeze. There has been time to meditate, and we have met someone who hasn't yet tried to squish us." Ariel paused for a moment. "You don't want to squish us do you?" she inquired. "Because if you intend to try, we'd like to request a bit of a head start. After all, you're the giant, and we're just a young kitten and a tiny clay statue given life through alchemy." There was another slight pause as Ariel began to twirl the reins around her hands, tightening them. Rafael's head raised up a little higher. He was staring intently at the drykas now, as opposed to the ground. They were both awaiting an answer, but Ariel was the only one who truly understood what was going on. Who understood the importance in being able to tell who your enemies were when you were such a small entity in a world of over-sized beings. Ariel gulped, before she added, "and if you decide that you may not want to squish us now, but you change your mind in the future, please tell us, we really do appreciate that head start..." Ariel's voice trailed off. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. Of course, she hadn't had the best experience in Endrykas, but she didn't feel as though that gave her much ground for her current actions. Her fear. How her tiny clay fingers were trembling, and how her legs were hugging the sides of Rafael's body, clinging on for dear life. OOCIf you press Ariel about the manner of her creation, she won't say much more. Just some buzzwords like "Harameus" and "alchemy."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Alchemy?" He was only a recent initiate into the mysteries, but that word made him think of stories of Sahova for some reason. His Master back in Sunberth had always threatened to send his slaves there for their experiments and body-snatching. "Well, I wasn't planning to step on you, but you should be careful around... around us giants." He laughed a bit at that. Sama'el was tall, but he had never considered himself a giant. "What brings you to Endrykas, then? The Sea of Grass is dangerous for giants, let alone little clay people." It wasn't meant to sound condescending, and it was certainly true. Mizahar in general was dangerous, the Sea of Grass moreso than many places. All that wide open space made for great, big predators.

[Ariel]

The red pigmentation in Ariel's face began to grow more and more prominent. Her cheeks were feeling somewhat warm as she replied, "pycons are not short, we are fun-sized!" she huffed. If she didn't have to hold Rafael's reins, she would have probably placed her hands on her hips. "And you best remember that the next time you meet one of us Mr. Drykas Giant. After all, most people don't like others drawing attention to their size. Especially when they are deemed little." There was a slight pause as Ariel collected her thoughts, "and as for being here. Well, who doesn't like a good old adventure?" There was another pause, "and although this place is easy to get lost in, it's not too bad. No worse than anywhere else really, as far as danger goes. We may not be as big as you mister, and that puts us at risk because no one notices us down here. Or if they do, they want to squish us." There was a pause, "you really do have to get good at dodging people's feet if you want to survive." There was another slight pause, "the nice thing is though, that when you're made of clay, not too many things want to eat you," Ariel continued. "Even though you may be larger and more capable of defending yourself, animals and things are more likely to come after you right... simply because they like munching on bones and not clay?" Ariel giggled. "It is a give and take, isn't it? Be small and not tasty, be tall and tasty to some..." OOCUm feel free to steer the thread any way you'd like depending on what you want to work on... Ariel will just come along and provide entertainment. She is pretty good at that.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Well," he said, taking in all these tidbits of information from the bite-sized clay creature. It was an interesting perspective, he supposed. Always tall for his age, he had only been smaller than the older kids growing up, and then growing up hadn't been fun at all when the slavers took him to Lisnar and Sunberth. "Well, I apologize if I offended you. I was just thinking it would make more sense to have a Pycon settlement where everything was made to order for people of your stature. I mean, not that you aren't welcome here so long as you follow Drykas law, but... isn't it difficult living among... legs like tree trucks, constantly swinging around? I suppose Rafael is nimble enough to get around them, but..." He scratched his head. "Would you like to go somewhere? You could ride on my shoulder and I could carry Rafael if he doesn't mind. You'd have a better vantage point from up here." He offered an incongruously shy smile.

[Ariel]

"Well there is no where in particular that we need to be, but if you have some place you need to get to, we'd be happy to come along," Ariel replied. "Traveling is always far more fun when you have someone else to talk to. It breaks up the tedious nature of the task... helps you get your mind off just how much you were at your destination already." The pycon gave a small smile as she peered up at the drykas. "Feel free to carry us along with you, if you'd like, but we warned that Rafael doesn't always take well to new people," Ariel added. "Sometimes he bites, and sometimes, you really should mind his claws. They're kind of sharp, and goodness knows he doesn't allow anyone to clip them." The pycon laughed a little as she added, "and you might want to let him down if he gets a little hissy..." her voice trailed off as she looked up at the man expectantly; waiting. OOCSorry for the short post. Also, I have been a bit under the weather lately, so my posting speed may slow down a bit.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I haven't anywhere particular to go for the time being," he said, "but perhaps just walking around will be good for you from Dohaina's back. Endrykas will unfold itself to you from that vantage point." He knelt down and offered her his cupped hands, as comfortable a conveyance to Dohaina's back as he could think of on the fly. They would have to see to Rafael next, and while he could stand a cat's claws, he hoped the little fluffball would be kind to him. Dohaina could carry a cat without breaking a sweat, and cats were lazy by nature, so it might all work out. "I can put you up there, and then we'll worry about him. At worst, he will follow along behind." Dohaina glanced askance at the little clay woman, but she would not protest unless Sama'el were quite obviously putting her in danger, which he would not do without the direst need. They had an understanding, the horse and her boy.